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Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Serena Williams really should teach a master class to the WTA Tour on gutting out matches.

The top lady baller was at her stubborn best in her fourth round match in Miami coming back from a break down in the final set to defeat feisty Jie Zheng 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 and earn her 50th career match win at the Sony Ericsson Open. She'll have a chance to face sister Venus in the semifinals if she gets past her third consecutive Chinese baller, Li Na, in the next round.

ReRe was asked about her current stint in the WTA Penthouse after the match and she had some biting, albeit hilarious, commentary on the Tour's ranking system:

Q. Do you enjoy being in a position of being No. 1? Does that in any way help you, or do you...SERENA WILLIAMS: Most of all I enjoy winning slams and the big tournaments. I obviously do enjoy being No. 1. I think it's great. I think it's they epitome of a great athlete.

At the end of the day, I've been No. 1 and I'll be No. 1. It seems like I'll be remembered more for how many Grand Slams I'll win.

But No. 1 I think is also equally as important.

Q. You won't be No. 1 unless you make the finals here, you know that?SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, I mean, I don't put pressure on myself, so we'll see. If I make it, I make it; if not, oh, well. It will be kind of weird to be No. 2 to -- because I think the girl that would take over would be like -- lost early here and hasn't really, whatever.

So it's like whatever. I don't really care.

Q. You said you wanted to be remembered for winning the slams. But in terms of holding on to the ranking, you've come a long way to get back to the top.SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah. But, I mean, at this point doesn't matter how many Grand Slams you win, can't be number one. Even if you get to the finals of Wimbledon and win the US Open and Australia, that's not what the No. 1 player gets. It is what it is. It's like, whatever.You have to like, I don't know, win all the smaller tournaments to be No. 1.

Q. Would you prefer they change the system to make it a little bit more weighted so the Grand Slams did matter more? Those are the tournaments every player wants to win.SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I don't really care one way or the other. Like I'm not -- my whole goal in life isn't to be No. 1. Yeah, I want to be No. 1, but I feel better about winning Australia or US Open or winning the French Open or anything like that. I think I feel better with that.Or winning here. Just winning titles. Obviously winning titles doesn't make you No. 1 on this tour anymore.

Let's finish ReRe's sentence here: "...the girl that would take over would be like -- lost early here and hasn't really..." won a damn thing that would truly earn DINARA the keys to the WTA Penthouse. Ouch - the truth hurts sometimes.

And note to WTA Tour officials: when your top baller essentially calls your ranking system a big, fat stinking pile of crap something needs to be addressed and changed. Seriously.

21 comments:

So, a player who doesn't give a crap about the entire tour (which includes small tournaments) in which she makes millions of dollars should be rewarded for being essentially a part-time player? Great, she has 2 slams and another final slam appearance - and she may still drop to #2, doesn't that speak volumes to her lack of committment to the entire tour? Thank god Dinara and the other top girls don't blow off these small tournaments like Serena does - FANS appreciate them. Lastly, even if you weighted slams with more points, with her staus as part-time player, Serena might still fall short!

Serena has been in 3 consecutive slam finals, sitting on 2 that she's won in a row and made the semis of everything else she's entered so far (some she didn't play last year) and she's still playing just to maintain a ranking - something is rotten in Denmark.

And when will somebody get a clue and award some points to both tours for defending a title. That's just ridiculous to me. That's difficult to do, and yet you get NOTHING for it. Nada.

And Chuckle, Serena played more events last year than she has since 2002. She's played more this year so far than she ever has at this stage of the year ever. She's following the rules. It's funny that when other players burn out from a loaded point chasing schedule, things need to change.

I forgot, you can only have true commitment to the tour if you play 30 events a year. Nice.

I know I'm bad mathematician,but 33 titles, and 50th win?I mean to get a title you have to have what 5 wins, in GS 7, right?So if she has 33 titles, 33 time 5 is more then 50....Something seems wrong here.You know only to win a GS you need to have 7 wins, so if she has 10 GS titles, you do the math....

johanne: i know, i love how ReRe calls Dinara "the girl" - a mystery it's not. but it's funny because it sounds like ReRe has NO idea who Dinara is, who is at No.2, 3, or 4 for that matter, or what the hell is going on with the rankings.

And she probably doesn't. During all those photo ops of the top lady ballers we see, ReRe's probably standing there wondering who the hell these girls are. Well, except Venus.

People always speculate and say that Serena has not played a lot of tournaments. This is the month of March and this is what the Top 5 (ever changing) have done since the start of the year. Serena’s tournaments for the year as against the other members of the Top 5Serena:

i'm sure this is the case, as well it should be! because let's face it, 90% of today's players --in both the women's and men's tours--will be forgotten in a decade or two, while venus and serena won't...

The tour did make changes to the ranking system. They count less tournaments than the men. However IW is now countable and Serena has chosen to take a zero. Dinar made two slam finals and a semi-final and won three large tournaments, RU at Olympics and won some smaller tournaments. IF RF or Nadal played Serena's schedule they would not be 1 & 2.

Serena knows the score and only has herself to blame.

Lastly, if Safina continues to play as she is currently and she would gain the number one position it would only be for a week or two and then Serena would get it back. So it would only be temporary.

Well Serena did played more tournaments last year, but she withdrew from 8 of the tournaments including the Championships at Doha.This year she has already withdrawn from the Paris tournament right before her match with Lena. So she has only herself to blame or her injuries, don't blame the rancking sistem. If you only count the slams then why play the other tournaments. Those small tournaments also matter and people are grateful when top players play them. She really needs to defend her points and STFU. The dig at Safina seem low to me way to kick your fellow player when there down.

Serena is trash-talking because she's insecure trash.If she were more psychologically secure, she would be more gracious. It's as simple as that. There's absolutely no need for her to talk like that, she should just let her racquet do the talking and smile.An insecure bully. Being a champion takes more than just winning.

To Pamela and Karen: The rankings are not about 2009... they are about 3/08 - 3/09. Good for Serena for playing a bit more this year. Serena doesnt need to load up her schedule but she does need to play more if she wants to remain #1. Please don't get me wrong, I love Serena and think she is an awesome #1.

Chuckles, I get your point but I'd ask you to look at her performance last year and my point stands.

"Anonymous" responses with something negative about Serena does not change the fact that a ranking system that allows point chasers to be rewarded over slam and big title winners are still entitled to believe that. I don't. I still think players should gain points for defending a title.

serena doesn't need to be number 1. she even says it herself. what she wants is to win majors, b/c serena is right in this interview by saying "at the end of the day, i've been number 1 and i'll be number 1. it seems like i'll be remembered more for how many grand slams i'll win". so true!

and if dinara reaches number 1 after this tourney, she'll be talked about in the same way jankovic was when she reached number 1.

also - not sure who said it (and i'm too lazy to scroll up and see) but players should be awarded points for defending a title (like bonus points or something?)

and for anon, she can "trash talk" all she wants. it makes player interviews worth reading. :)